Simultaneous Eruption

Simultaneous Eruption
2005.12.16 3:18

In Kingfisher, Oklahoma, a number of eruption of geysers appeared abruptly these few days.
Strikingly similar incident occurred in a different place but similar latitude here in Japan almost simultaneously. A City of Oita is located internationally famous hotspring paradise Beppu and since this July the hotspring boring has been conducted in the field of Nakasone Hospital with the hope to find a good hotspring to make money essentially. But instead of finding a hotspring, they just find a natural gas leakeage and the fire in sequence.
At 8:30 a.m. on the 12th of December, as was usual the workers started operating the boring machine for still unidetified reasons, fire started at the site by igniting the natural gas methane that abruptly erupted from a gap of the diametre 54 mm pipeline that dug into 370 m under the ground within a diametre 80 mm pipeline that dug into 800 m under the ground. At the beginning of the prior small explosions, they had 5-6 metre high fire columns. After 9 hours the fire was put down but the leakeage of methane and vapour had been there. Before 4 o'clock p.m. on the 14th of December, gas leakeage was put down by injecting mud water into the smaller pipeline, it took 55 hours after the fire.
I watched the scene in the local news, it was like a burnt small oil rig or well, shaft. I was unable to find a photo, though.